Diagnosis, treatment and management of some medical conditions require monitoring of the presence or concentration of an analyte in the afflicted organ or tissue. Current monitoring methods are expensive, cumbersome, time consuming, and do not provide accurate, continuous information. Thus, there is clearly a need for a better long-term tissue monitoring system. Preferably analyte concentration should be measured non-invasively or minimally-invasively with minimal user maintenance Furthermore, sensors should preferably last for days to months.
Such real-time, continuous measurement of analyte presence or concentration in tissues can be achieved by the use of sensors inserted or implanted into the tissue and measuring the signal generated by the sensor by a device located outside the body. Oxygen sensors are described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0286875, which is hereby incorporated herein by its entirety. There is a need for stable, near-IR luminescent compounds and sensors for direct, rapid and accurate measurement of analyte levels in tissue, including tissues in vivo. In addition, there is a need for stable, near-IR luminescent compounds and sensors for direct, rapid and accurate measurement of analyte levels in tissue, including tissues in vivo.